Beijing is denouncing the criminal charges brought by the US against five high-ranking People’s Liberation Army officers accused of economic cyber-espionage.  Prosecutors say the five stole secrets led China’s drive to hack into American nuclear, metal, solar companies, and unions to steal trade secrets.

“When a foreign nation uses military or intelligence resources and tools against an American executive or corporation to obtain trade secrets or sensitive business information for the benefit of its state-owned companies, we must say, ‘Enough is enough,’” said US Attorney General Eric Holder.

Authorities accuse China’s state run hackers of busting into the computers of Westinghouse Electric, US Steel, Alcoa, SolarWorld, and the US Steelworkers Union.  SolarWorld found itself losing market share to cheaper Chinese competitors, because the hackers stole pricing strategy documents.  While Westinghouse was negotiating with China to build nuclear power plants, the hackers were stealing secret designs for plant components.

“We have consistently and candidly raised these concerns with the Chinese government, and today's announcement reflects our growing concerns that this behavior has continued,” said White House Spokesman Jay Carney.

But Beijing insists the federal indictment was based on  “fabricated facts” and would jeopardize relations with Washington.

“The Chinese government, the Chinese military and their relevant personnel have never engaged or participated in cyber theft of trade secrets,” said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Qin Gang.  “The accusation against Chinese personnel is purely ungrounded and absurd.”

Beijing immediately suspended its participation in the China-US Cyber Working Group.  The group was set up in April to address international cyber-crime.